Sugar Spell it Out
by bedbugsy
Summary: Because it was easier to watch her walk away. EP/JJ.
1. 001

Authors Note: I wrote this a couple of years back, I think between the airing of seasons three and four. Set during JJ's moving away party. I own nothing, I just love them.

It was JJ's going away party, and a sort of mediocre excitement hung about the room, tangled in the cheap purple streamers, mixed in like vodka with the bad cranberry punch.

Scads of agents, most with no idea who this 'Agent Jareau' was, milled around the bull pen. The occasional friendly face stopped to shake her hand, wish her luck, inquire about the baby, but most, it was blatantly obvious, were in it for the free food.

Somewhere across the room, her husband was making nice with people he'd never met, grinning the whole time. The team was scattered through out the building, Hotch working on paper work at his desk, a half empty red plastic cup in front of him. Morgan was surrounded by a dozen or more female agents, his smile blinding in the dim lighting. Garcia had insisted the lights be dim, because after all this was a party and no one could dance in the light.

"I would like to stress that just because I'm throwing you a party, does not mean I condone this moving away business." Penelope pulled JJ into a tight hug. Her breath smelled of punch and booze and the novelty of it all made JJ want to cry.

"I know." Was all she could muster in response. The truth was, she wasn't so sure she condoned her big move either. Everything for little pink 'yes' to big terrifying 'I do' had happened in a tornado that dwarfed anything raging through Oz.

A modern day Dorothy Gale with the feeling that once she reached New Orleans, she'd want nothing more than to come back home.

Back home to D.C, back home to the BAU, back home to-

"So where's Emily?" Garcia all but slurred, one arm around JJ's shoulders. "Because if she's hiding out and playing chess with Reid, her cute little ass and my cute little shoe are going to have a serious meeting."

Emily had been sticking to the background a lot lately, finding some excuse to go off to play mind games with Reid, or talk comics and novels with Morgan. JJ had even seen her go into Hotch's office with two steaming cups of coffee and sit down for a chat.

Yet she'd been avoiding JJ for weeks, and what was worse was she's was acting like nothing had changed.

Where during briefings there had once been playful eye contact, sarcastic comments, wide smiles, there were now only vague answers and blank stares. Where they had once chatted so frequently over the crappy office coffee maker, they now met only in passing. That was if JJ was lucky to catch the tail end of Emily's nine sugars per cup at all. Where there had once been warmth, there was now a thick layer of ice.

JJ still let herself pretend that she didn't know why.

They all knew that things would never be the same after New York. After Hotch, with his stoicism and dedication lost Kate Joyner. JJ had to wonder if it was losing Kate that broke him, or if it was losing Haley, again.

It had happened to all of them; loss, pain, terror. Reid had never been the same after Georgia, Morgan after Chicago, Penelope after the shooting and even JJ herself, after a hasty run in with a Detective from new Orleans that brought her life crashing down around her. But Emily, Emily had always been the same. Even after Milwaukee, even after Carrie.

Emily had always been calm and cool and able to handle anything that was thrown at her. Until now. Until JJ threw William LaMontagne Junior in her face like warm spit.

"He looks like he's having fun." Garcia nodded in the direction of Will, who was leaning coolly against a wall, cup in hand, chatting with Strauss. "Takes a real charmer to make that woman crack a smile."

Where a lovey dovey comment like, "Ever the charmer" or "What a dream boat" would have sufficed, JJ simply shrugged. She didn't have to say anything. Garcia, her best friend, her confidant, knew everything; she knew each and every one of JJ's deep dark little secrets.

All of them.

"Go find her, Jayj."

One look into Garcia's eyes, and JJ knew it was more than the alcohol in her system talking. It was her best friend, once again giving her the advice she'd never had the courage to take. JJ's hand instinctively fell to her swollen stomach.

"I can't."

"The guests are perfectly capable of keeping themselves entertained, and I will maintain the vodka/cranberry juice ratio in the drinks. Now scoot." With a push off of her shoulder, Garcia disappeared into the throng, her words echoing in JJ's head.

"Find her. Find her."

JJ could feel eyes on her as she pushed off of the snack bar and into the crowd. Following her every move, every polite smile, every careful step through the dense mass of bodies. She looked up to see Will, refilling his drink, his eyes glued to her. A cold shiver ran up her spine and she turned away, moving more quickly down the hall before he could follow.

There had been a time, at the peak of their relationship, when he was chivalrous and kind and she was running like hell from her feelings for Emily, that his gaze would leave her feeling comfortable, wanted. Now, after the explosion, after what he knew, his eyes left her feeling nothing but scared.

JJ felt the explosion more than she heard it. Shaking the ground like the hand of God punching justice into the heart of a pulsing city.

She scuttled down the hallway, casually glancing in doors in search of the elusive Emily.

Will was beside her, talking calmly about getting to the hotel, calling to find out what had gone on, but she couldn't hear him. She didn't hear his shout of surprise as she whipped back through oncoming traffic to make an illegal u-turn or the string of swear words directed at her.

First she checked the conference room - empty. No surprise there. No one wanted to sit and think about murderers when there was booze to be had.

She didn't even kill the engine before jumping out at the police barricade, already up, keeping them from the site of the explosion. Flames danced from the smoldering SUV, shattered glass lay everywhere, and in the distance, just out of sight, someone was dying.

"Oh, god." But she couldn't even say the words. She was shaking too hard, sobbing too loud, forgetting to breathe.

Next she checked the break area, where a dancing janitor was singing Cher into his broom handle, oblivious to her presence thanks to the head phones in his ears.

And then she was held in warm arms, cooed by a soft voice. Her tears soaked a blue FBI windbreaker and dark brown hair fell against her neck. Emily.

The flood of relief and shock and joy and pain and love was so overwhelming that JJ didn't care that two dozen cops surrounded them, that one of her team mates was dead twenty yards away, that Will was watching her through narrow eyes.

In a last ditch attempt, she decided to poke her head into Garcia's office.

"I was so scared I'd lost you." She whispered, pressing their foreheads together. Then, without inhibition or shame, she pressed her lips hard against Emily's, putting everything she'd felt over the past year into a single kiss.

The lights were off, but a dim glow permeated the room from the dozen active computer monitors. Some had code scrolling through them, some held simply the FBI logo across a blank screen, and three, the main three used by the quirky tech analyst, were full of grainy, black and white versions of everyone at the party, milling about and dancing.

Lounging in Garcia's black swivel chair, watching the party with a bored look, was Emily Prentiss.

JJ closed the door quietly and leaned against it, watching the oblivious Emily for a moment before speaking.

"Well aren't you creepy." She couldn't help but smirk at how Emily whipped around in shock, misjudging her own momentum and spinning around twice before coming back to face JJ.

Emily glared at her in jest for a moment before shrugging.

"It was like this when I got here. I didn't want to touch anything for, you know, fear of losing my hands." She held up ten thin fingers.

"Good call." They stared at one another awkwardly for a moment, brown eyes boring into blue, before Emily swiveled back to face the screen. Taking her cue, JJ pulled up the chair from the back of the room and sat next to her. They watched the screens in silence for several minutes.

"Quite the shindig you have there, Little Miss Popular." JJ supposed Emily had meant it in jest, but the statement sounded cold and a little bitter.

"I don't even know half of those people." JJ shook her head. She glanced at Emily's profile and sighed. "The party was fine, but it was missing the one person I really wanted to be there."

Emily said nothing, but finally turned to look at her, a mix of disbelief and awe on her face.

"What are you doing in here, Em?"

"Just had to get away from the noise for a minute." Emily's elegant shoulders sagged slightly at the look she was given. "Okay, fine. I was hiding."

"From who?" JJ's head tilted to the side a fraction.

Emily said nothing, but her eyes returned to the computer screen where Will and Morgan were bargaining over what looked to be the last sandwich.

JJ felt her heart crumble just a little.

"Oh."

"And you." Emily always was the straight forward one. JJ knew she deserved the stab of pain that cut through her.

"You've been doing that pretty well for weeks now," JJ could feel herself getting angry and defensive. "It's like every time I walk into a room you just stop talking, or walk out, or even worse, pretend I'm not there. We can't even work together effectively any more. And you acting like it's all my fault isn't fair, Emily. That's bullshit."

"I'm sorry if being kissed by someone one week, and attending her wedding to some prick the next, threw me for a loop." Emily stood defensively, crossing her arms over her chest. Her stance was distant. JJ stood a moment later, hands falling to her sides in disbelief.

"Well, I'm sorry if being heterosexual for twenty-nine years and then falling in love with a woman threw me for a loop." Emily stared at her.

"Then why are you with him?" JJ sighed, running a hand through her neat, blonde hair.

"Because, I'm a wreck. Seriously. And not just a tiny fender bender. We're talking huge, fifteen car pile up on the interstate with log trucks and smooshed motorcycles and exploding SUV's." Emily raised her eyebrows. "I couldn't put you through that."

"We've dealt with exploding SUV's before, Jayj." Slowly, she reached out, taking JJ's fingers between her own. "I'm willing to again."

"Why?" JJ asked, almost suspicious. She could barely fathom how someone would be willing to put up with her, let alone want to.

"Because I love you." It was such a simple statement, said with honesty and sincerity. "Even if I'm subjected to Monday Night Football, or never cooking with garlic again, or picking your wet towel up off the bathroom floor every day for the rest of our lives." Emily looked into JJ's eyes sadly, dark hair failing in front of her eyes almost shyly. "Even if it means letting you go. I just love you, JJ."

"Then why?" JJ squeezed Emily's hand, pulling her fractionally closer. "Why did you let me marry him?"

Emily dropped their joined hands, placing her own on her hips and looking down in shame. She'd asked herself that same question a thousand times. She'd known that she loved JJ for years, and when the blonde kissed her, she'd thought maybe they had a chance. But the night came and went, mornings passed and it was never mentioned again - by anyone. Wedding bells chimed, dress shirts were ironed, finger nails were painted, and Emily quietly sat in the third pew from the front, watching JJ marry the father of her child.

Morgan clutched her hand tightly the whole time, danced with her at the reception, kept her to her word at having only one glass of champagne, and held her shaking body as she sobbed on her dark front porch hours later. The memory alone brought the glimmer of tears to her eyes.

"Because I loved you too much to destroy your world." Emily licked her lips, looking up at JJ slowly. Without hesitation JJ wrapped her arms tightly around Emily's neck, hugging her so closely that she could feel both of their hearts pound.

Emily's arms instinctively wrapped around JJ's slim waist, pulling her impossibly closer. She buried her face in soft, blond hair, feeling her own neck quickly become wet with tears.

"I didn't want to marry him," JJ admitted, voice muffled against Emily's skin, drawing ragged breaths. "I wanted you to stop it. I wanted myself to stop it." Emily pressed kisses to JJ's cheek bones, her temple, her brow.

"Pick me." She kissed the whisper into JJ's ear. "Don't leave." It was the first and only time anyone had heard Emily Prentiss beg. "Please."

And suddenly the baby kicked, a tiny foot against her insides and a giant fist around her heart. Inside of her a life was moving, growing, expecting to come into a world with her mother and father and a sense of normalcy that JJ herself had always been searching for.

She jerked away from Emily like she'd been slapped. Emily flinched, recoiling into herself. And in that moment, of terrified faces and stinging tears, they both knew that it would never work.

"I'm sorry," JJ whispered, hugging herself almost as tightly as she'd just been hugging Emily. "No." Emily didn't want to hear it. The excuses and the reasons for why JJ couldn't, wouldn't be brave enough to leave him.

On a grainy black screen tiny figure of Will LaMontagne wandered down an empty corridor, heading right for them, like a bloodhound. Emily pointed to the computer, silent tears sliding down her cheeks that she wouldn't acknowledge.

"Don't come back here." She muttered, turning and slipping through the door without another glance at the woman who shattered her heart, the woman she would never see again

Because if JJ was anything, it was obedient.

END.


	2. 002

Friday night dinner had been stiff and awkward.

Where Will and Jack Jareau usually chatted amiably about the latest hunting riffles, or car widgets, they now looked tensely down at their forks. While usually Karen would be all a flutter with making sure everyone had anything, and JJ would be fussing with Henry, the ladies simply sat quietly, picking at their salads.

With Henry back home in New Orleans at Grandma Charlene's house, not even the toddler was there to distract them. The silence was deafaning, as they all struggled to find the worlds. Finally, Jack looked up from his meal, holding eye contact with his daughter.

"Jenny, can you pass the gravy?"

The table released a collective sigh of dissapointment, and JJ handed over the crystal boat, careful not to disrupt any other dishes along the way. The spell however, had been broken for a moment, and Karen shifted from her seat, collecting a few empty plates.

"Can I get anyone anything from the kitchen?" Will looked up to her with a lopsided smile, holding his empty beer bottle.

"I wouldn't mind another cold one, please, ma'am?" Karen nodded, and took the bottle from him before dissapearing into the kitchen, completely ignoring the glare in her daughters eye. Will however, was buzzed enough to not want to keep his mouth shut any longer.

"Come on, JayJay. I'm not driving, and we'll probably jus' go up to bed after this anyway. Don't be such a spoil sport."

"Excuse me," She ignored him, standing from her chair and grabbing her wine glass.

"I think I'll go see if Mom needs any help in the kitchen." Having to put up with the passive-aggressive mess that was her mother sounded a lot more bearable than having Will look at her with those droopy eyes, while her father sat watching on.

"Yo, Prentiss. You coming or what?" Her head swivvled in the direction of Morgan, who was leaning over her desk grinning, eye brows raised in expectation. Before she could even open her mouth to give some lame excuse, he cut her off.

"We've got nothing working right now, and I know for a fact that you need to get out there and have some fun." She huffed at him, but didn't protest as he pulled the pen and file she'd been clutching from her hands.

"One drink!" Penelope chimed in, popping up from no where in her usual magical manner. She peered at Emily from behind technicolor glasses, giving her best resolve face.

Looking back and forth between her friends, Emily knew that resistance would be futile. Slumping her shoulders in defeat she brushed some long brown hair back behind her shoulder.

"Fine, one drink." She ignored their shared look of success. "And no dancing!"

"Oh, we'll see about that." What sounded like a threat came from Morgan, and Emily already found herself simply wanting to go home, crawl into bed, and fall into a good book. It was how she spent most of her nights over the last few years, losing herself in other worlds.

After JJ left, she'd broken down to bare bones and blood, spilling herself with every faltering step she'd attempt to take. It was all she could do to drag herself into the office every day, and not snear at the over eager face of Jordan Todd. To pull her boots on in the morning and secure her gun in the holster, without simply hitting the road and driving until she reached ocean. Which ocean, she didn't much care.

She'd started drinking, heavily at first and then a little less after a week long stint with Penelope buzzing around her apartment like some far-out fairy godmother. Pen and Derek had worked together to get Emily back on her feet, even if that only meant sober and functioning.

Binge drinking transformed into a thirst for knowledge, and while she was already certifiably genius, she began absorbing anything she could at a phenominal rate. Novels, non-fiction, documentaries, podcasts. Anything and everything that could distract her from the fact that half her heart had walked away and she'd just let it happen.

Again. Still, Derek and Penelope worried. Spencer, Rossi, even Hotch had picked up on the fact that Jennifer Jareau was not the only woman who had left their team that night. She'd taken the best parts of Emily Prentiss along with her.

"Let's go."

"So do you want to talk about it?" Karen Jareau asked casually, her back turned to her daughter as she worked diligently at the sink, scrubbing and soaking the dishes as she'd done a million times before. From where she was leaning against the counter, JJ watched her mother. She noted the wrinkles forming at the corners of her eyes, and the tired posture of her back and shoulders. She watched the strong hands covered in again skin dip in and out of the steamy water, just as she had as a child, and felt the comfort of her mother wash over her.

Taking a deep breath, JJ tried to figure where she would even begin.

"I'm not in love with him." She finally settled on, saying it simply and quietly, knowing full and well that the winds of this house had the power to carry statements from room to room when you're hoping they won't.

Karen did not pause her actions, simply made an "Mmmm" sound and kept washing. JJ moved to her side, grabbing a dry rag and beginning to wipe off the plates as her mother moved them from one basin to the other.

"I mean, I love him. I think. Or at least I did, before." She had never really spoken these things allowed before, except for that fateful night in Garcia's office, when she said them all wrong and twisted.

"He provides for me and Henry, and tries to be a good father. I respect him for those things. For wanting to be the man he'd seen his father be as a boy. I just," She sighed and they continued cleaning in silence for another moment.

"I'm not in love with him." She murmered again, lamely. So involved as they were in their task, neither woman had noticed when William, still waiting for that next beer, had meandered into the kitchen.

"'Scuse me?"

JJ's gasp was punctuated by the sound of a glass plate breaking on the floor.

Due to interest in a sequel/continuation of the first story, here is some more! Hopefully it will be enjoyable, and people will continue to leave awesome feedback. Hint, hint. Thanks everyone for reading!


	3. 003

"This place is great!" Penelope exclaimed over the thumping techno music. She had three huge glasses of beer masterfully clutched in one hand, and her own tiny pink cosmo held daintily in the other as she approached their table. Spencer, Derek and Emily respectively took their drinks with wide smiles, sipping on them as they observed the goings on around them. Aeon, the club they'd decided on for the evening, was a long dark room, filled with crazy lights and fabrics and people. A throng of bodies pulsed out on the dance floor, occasionally moving in streams along the bar and various booths that lined the walls.

"Not exactly the word I would have chosen." Emily mumbled into her glass, already having downed half of her mug. Morgan watched her with a weary eye, hoping that this really had been the best idea. While he'd been cautious of her at first, Emily had really come to be one of the people he trusted most in the world. She'd been there for him one hundred percent back in Chicago, and even more ever since then. They had a connection, one that ran deep and pure, like most connections that had formed between the members of the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit over the years.

"Well I think it's swanky, mama." He encouraged Penelope, giving her a little pat on the hand. She blew him a kiss and a wink, before turning to abruptly begin ranting at Spencer about how he wasn't properly socialized.

While Garcia educated Reid, Emily slipped from the table, claiming that she needed to go to the bathroom.

It was no surprise to either of them when Derek found her, three minutes later, smoking an American Spirit in the back alley. The snow was starting to fall again, and he pulled the fleece jacket he was wearing higher up his neck for warmth.

"Those'll kill you, you know." He leaned against the brick wall beside her, watching as she stared blankly at the wall across the alley, raising the smoldering stick to her lips every few seconds before releasing a thin stream of smoke into the air.

"So will those." She nodded to the tiny gun they both knew to be strapped firmly around his ankle. "This'll just take longer."

They stood in silence for a moment as a tweaker rolled down the alley on a small bike, chattering to himself and looking much like one of Peter Pan's lost boys. It took a moment before he noticed the tears slipping down her cheeks.

"Hey now, none of that." Without asking he pulled her into a brief hug, feeling her small frame shiver against him. She really wasn't wearing the proper coat for this, and burried thankfully into his shoulder.

"I just don't know if I can do this anymore, Derek." She confessed, wiping angrily at the tears that continued to fall. She took a shaky drag off of her cigarette, allowing him a moment to respond.

"Then don't." She looked up at him with raised eyebrows. "I mean it. If this isn't the life you want, or the way you want to be, then change it. There's nothing in this world that you can't change if you really put your heart into it."

"You sound like a greeting card."

"Well call me Mr. Hallmark then, because it's true. I've known you for a while now, Emily Prentiss, and I know for a fact that there isn't anything you can't do if you set your mind to it."

She stared hard into his dark eyes for a moment, before looking away blankly again.

"If I don't have her, then what's the point?"

"The point is that you were an entire person before you met Jennifer Jareau, and you're still a person now, even after she dumped you. You owe it to yourself to know that without her, you may not be with the person you love most, but you're not being someone worthy of loving her."

"Ouch." She dead panned, taking a final drag before stamping out the cigarette beneath her boot. "I don't need you to come out here and tell me the story of my life with footnotes, Derek. Isn't there supposed to be some kind of rule about profiling another member of the team?"

"And aren't we supposed to trust eachother?"

She didn't have a reply to that one.

"I don't know about JJ," He said softly, resting his head atop her head, pulling her close again. "But I'm really starting to miss the Emily Prentiss I know and love." And he did. He missed the excitement behind her eyes, instead of only terror. He missed her complex jokes that usually went over his head in some way, and her dragging him to nerdy midnight movies, and her smile. God, that smile.

She pulled away from him, stepping out of his arms and back in the direction of the door.

"Come on," She held out her hand, which he took quickly, spinning her around once. "Let's see about that dance."

"Oh ho! Now we're talking!" Friends again, they dissapeared into the club.

Inside the throng pulled them along to the beat. Emily gave up on being filled with sorrow, and let the music flow through her instead.

In another state, Jennifer Jareau's life was crumbling to pieces around her.

TBC

Thank you all so much for the positive feedback! It's really nice to know that people want to read more of the story and are enjoying it. :) Reviews are addictive.


	4. 004

She needed a drink, and at the rate this evening was quickly dissintigrating, it would have to be a stiff one. Her head was pounding, and his voice was echoing in her ears, and she just wanted all of it to stop so badly that she was thinking about smashing another plate on the ground, just to get their attention.

"Will."

"You're not in love with me?" He repeated her words harshly, knuckles turning white as he gripped the edge of the counter as if holding himself up. Beside her Karen stood quietly, her hands till submerged in the soapy dishwasher, but no longer movoing dilligently across the plates.

"I didn't mean, I mean. I love you?" She faltered, wincing.

"I think I'll just go see what you're father is-"

"No." Will cut her off, his eyes sliding from one blonde to the other, crossing his arms over his chest. The way he was looking at her was just how he'd looked when she's fallen into Emily's arms instead of his - furious, disgusted and bewildered. "I think you should stay for this, Karen. It soulds like JayJay was just getting to the good part."

"Please, leave her out of this. Don't embarrass me in front of my mother." JJ interjected, tired of sitting back and taking his bullshit, just because she didn't want to piss anyone off. Sometimes she couldn't believe the way he let her talk to her, or others around them. The way that he could condescend and demean without even trying.

There were days, more often than not lately, that she hated herself for allowing it to continue. But then he would show up and be just so sweet to her. Sweet enough to cook, or clean, or take care of Henry when he knew she was getting to run down. Sweet enough to rub her shoulders, and love her even when she did things wrong.

"If you don't love me, then why did you agree to marry me? Why did you bring my son into this world if you don't want to spend your life with me?"

"I was trying to do the right thing, Will."

"And lookie how that turned out!" He scoffed. The look of disgust on that flashed across his face nearly made her gasp, and she knew in that moment that he too knew exactly why she could not love him. Will LaMontagne knew now, just as he always had, that his wife was in love with another woman.

Shoulders sagging a bit, he hung his head, before simply turning and walking away. Tense silence followed the sounds of one door slamming, then another, before the crunching of gravel spoke of his leaving the old home's driveway. JJ stood rooted to the spot, her eyes squeezed shut to hide the shame.

"I am so sorry, mom." She finally said after a few moments, opening her eyes to see Karen looking at her with confusion all over her face. Drying her hands on a towel, she guided JJ over to one of the stools, patting her on the shoulder.

"Baby girl, what on God's good Earth do you have to be sorry for?" While they attended church every Sunday and Easter, and prayed for the safety of their loved ones and home every night, the Jareau's had never been an overly religious or conservative family. They believed that God taught to love all, and let all be loved. JJ knew that, but had still always felt that divorce would have made her something to be ashamed of.

"For not being able to make my marriage work. For any embarrassment this is going to cause, because I know you don't care, Mama." She looked into her mother's eyes, so kind and blue and very much like her own. "But other people will and it's just not fair for me to put you through that again. Not after everything with Lucy and-"

"Now listen here, young lady." She wasn't sure when her father had entered the room, but he certainly had ner full attention now. "I think it's time you were honest with us. No matter what happens, we're going to be on your side, but I think we deserve the whole story."

He perched on the stool opposite her, an encouraging smile peeking through his gray beard.

Taking a deep breath, JJ began to explain to them exactly how she fell in love with Emily Prentiss.

_It had been one of their more disturbing cases, she had to admit. Just the thought of that man, abducting all of those women one by one, and then eating them, made her want to be sick all over again. Just as she had been in the police station bathroom at the end of the day when the case was finally over. That's how Emily had found her, crouching on the cool tile ground, blonde hair falling in a curtain all around her._

_"Aww, Jayj." She was sympathetic as she knelt down beside the liason, pulling her hair back behind her shoulders, brushing the beads of sweat from her forehead. JJ was breathing heavily, and the sudden warmth and scent of Emily being inside her personal space made her dizzy all over again._

_They sat there together, quietly for a while, until JJ's stomach finally settled and Emily helped her to her feet._

_"Thanks..." She pressed a paper towel to her mouth, as Emily shuffled about dampening another. Using the damp cloth she patted JJ's forehead and cheeks, all the time being very gentle and caring._

_"Don't mention it," Emily brushed it off, their eyes locking for a moment longer than usual. "I'm right there with you. This stuff is hard to take sometimes. Just accepting that men like this live in our world, it's scary and ugly and definitely sickening." She flashed a million dollar smile, and JJ felt her heart race. "But that's what we're for. To fight the bad guys."_

_From that moment on, Emily Prentiss would continue to save her._

Even though she'd only barely started, both Jack and Karen could see that love their daughter had for this woman was deep and true. It was only a moment of JJ looking up at them nervously and expectantly, before Jack burst into laughter.

He chuckled for a solid minute, his wife and daughter both looking on in confusion.

"Silly girl," He finally said, shaking his head as his laughter subsided. "if you had two lives I'm sure you would happily live one for us, and one for you. But since you've only got the one, I'm afraid you'll have to live it just for you. You're still JJ, no matter what." He scratched his old mans beard casually, wrapping one arm around her shoulders in support. "If you love this Emily so much, as you clearly do, there's no reason you should waste your time on a lughead like William LaMontagne."

Between the tears welling in her eyes and the laughter welling in her throat, JJ thought she might explode with joy and love. Her family still loved her, even if she wasn't perfect. Her family thought she was perfect just as she was. They loved her.

A rush of shame hit her heavily after a moment, nearly knocking the wind out of her.

How could she have worried for so long that her own parents wouldn't love her no matter what? That they would hold her being in love with a woman instead of a man against her.

A certain woman in particular...

With new conviction JJ wrapped her arms tightly around her father, pressing a sweet kiss to his cheek. "You're the best, old man."

"Hey, who you calling old, now?" Her mother chimed in from across the kitchen, dropping the dish towel she'd been wringing between her hands to join in the embrace. As they stood there, warm and laughing together, the Jareau family united in a way that hadn't happened in over a decade.

"We love you, kiddo." Jack mumbled into his daughters forehead, pressing a quick kiss before. Karen nodded in agreement before moving back to her sink, picking up her old dishtowel and drying the dishes, humming some old sweet song to herself.

"Go get her." Her father clapped her on the shoulder, shoving her playfully in the direction of the front room. "A catch like Emily Prentiss won't just wait around forever without getting snatched up by someone less stubborn than you."

JJ just grinned at him, before dissapearing with the sound of a door slamming in rushed excitement and nervousness. She was going to get her girl alright, if her girl would still have her, that is.

Not letting the very likely possibiliy that Emily might not be "there" anymore get to her, JJ pulled her car away from the family comforts of home, heading out in search of a new one.

TBC!

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